King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo
“Each spine had been an open door away whispering, Come in, come in. Here is the land you’ve never seen before. Here is a place to hide when you’re frightened, to play when you’re bored, to rest when the world seems unkind.” Leigh Bardugo, King of Scars.
There has never been a quote that has resonated with me as soundly as the one above by Leigh Bardugo. For a moment, she wasn’t describing the youth of the title character Nikolai Lantsov. She was describing me, a perfect stranger. No book had ever lost patience with me. No book had ever abandoned me, or been frustrated by me. Books would not laugh at you for wearing the wrong outfit, hairstyle, or expression on your face. Books were solace, safety, and adventure all wrapped into one, and Leigh Bardugo hit the nail directly on the head.
If you know me, you know I’m pretty much late to everything book related. There should be no surprise then that this weekend was spent rushing to finish King of Scars before going to meet the Goth Queen herself on the last stop of her Ninth House tour in Brooklyn, NY even though this book came out forever ago. I spent the weekend being driven around by my fiance so that the story wouldn’t potentially be spoiled when hearing Bardugo speak at Murmrr on Saturday evening. Unfortunately I wasn't able to finish it until Sunday, but luckily there were no spoilers, and thank the Saints for it, because this book was worth getting to the end.
I started this story very excited to be back in Ravka. After reading the Six of Crows duology and the Shadow and Bone trilogy, I was slightly glad that I’d read them out of order. If I’d have read the Shadow and Bone trilogy first, I don’t think I’d have gone for Six of Crows. I wasn’t sure how I felt about Nikolai at the end of Shadow and Bone, or after the end of Crooked Kingdom, either, if we’re being honest, but I knew that I’d fell in love with the Dregs of Ketterdam and would have read anything Grisha-related to be able to see those friends again.
King of Scars satisfied a small part of the need to be with the Dregs again because of Nina, but it also allowed me to fall a little bit in love with Nikolai and Zoya, too. **Stop here if you don’t want KoS spoilers.** Nina, Nikolai, and Zoya don’t spend time together, but they’re all mourning pieces of themselves and their past. Nina’s story broke my heart, and reading the first half of the book was almost torture. Her grief and denial was substantial. I hated to be part of it, which is a total complement to Bardugo’s writing. Ny only criticism is that I didn’t believe the bisexual undertones of her relationship with Hanne. That storyline seems so unrealistic that I don’t think I can get behind it. Nina + Matthias forever.
Nikolai was just as sassy and sarcastic as ever. He is so charismatic and charming, intelligent and unassuming that you can’t help but want to be charmed by him. I’m not sure whether it was meant to be on purpose, or if it’s just happenstance, but his charm and charisma is eerily similar to the way Bardugo describes the Darkling from Zoya’s point of view. I can’t wait to see how Bardugo wraps up these cliffhangers in the conclusion.
There wasn’t a lot of world building in this story, which I think is good and not at all necessary after six Grishaverse stories. I think the parts she does add in are necessary, and getting to the heart of the story is more important. Stick through the first half of the book, because it is a bit slow and you’ll be expecting more action than you get, but as soon as you get into the second half of the book the wind picks up and the storm rolls in, and you’ll want to hold on for dear life as the Squallers and Tidemakers take you for a ride you won’t forget.
Four out of five stars. Long Live the King.
